Is this good specs for gaming?

Question

2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT graphics with 256MB SDRAM

It's a macbook pro 17inch with 1680 x 1050 pixel resolution.
More and more games are starting to be released for the mac platform, but the intel macs are capable of natively booting windows xp or vista with supposedly full driver support.

What sort of games can this setup handle, and at what graphic quality?

Answer 1

That could handle many games at medium settings. 8600M GT performance is in mainstream category. It has 32 stream processors and could score up to 7700 marks in 3D Mark 05.

Answer 2

For a Mac, that's definately good enough to run todays games. But if can, you should change your video card. Recently, Nvidia cam out with the Geforce 8800GT, it runs circles around the 8600's and performs only slightly slower than an 8800 GTX. The cool thing is that the card is under $300US.

Also, for such a powerful card, it only uses 1 expansion slot space unlike the 8800 gtx. So a Mac can definately fit it. Since your display does 1680x1050, this card can give you better graphic detail with less slow down of the 8600.

Answer 3

Those specs should be fine for gaming. And the graphics card is pretty good. It's the best graphics card in the mid-lower end of the NVIDIA range unless you upgrade to the 8800's.

Answer 4

your specs are good for gaming. you have a great processor and a good amount of video memory. this should do well in games even if it is multi threaded.